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Whether you believe it or not bullfighting is actually a popular event in South Korea. This traditional event, which dates back to ancient times, is held at Cheongdo annually with many international countries participating.

So, what is bullfighting all about in South Korea? When I first heard about it the first things that popped into my mind were "red cape", "swords", "toreador", "fancy maneuvers", and "GRAPHIC VIOLENCE". A vision perhaps depicted from a stadium brimful of blood thirsting individuals somewhere in Spain. Surely enough it's not what bullfighting is about in South Korea. In fact, it's far from what I imagined, which is kind of unfortunate in a way since I am one of those blood thirst seeking individual. Ah well.

The event features two bulls pitted against one other, pushing, hooking, butting, and striking each other until one of them turns its head and runs away. Pretty tame compared to my visions of gore, but it was still quite entertaining. The interesting aspect is actually watching the bull trainer yelling at their "trained" bulls and seeing the bulls actually responding to the calls. Proving again that cows are not dumb, mindless creatures? The match continues until one bull loses with no time outs or time limits. An average match can take anywhere between 30 minutes to 1 hour, some longer. After each match the bulls are not killed or seriously injured when a winner is determined.

Cattle surely play diverse roles here in Korea - they don't just end up on your dinner plate as barbecued meat.

PS. I was just kidding about the graphic violence, blood thirst bit. Not really my cup of tea..

Tech note: Mamiya 7II 6x7(120film), fujifilm NPH400, shadow/highlights, saturation +, high-pass filter(sharpening).